I can't understand why people don't take pride in their homes. I know most people do, but it seems an inordinate number of renters just don't give a flying monkey's behind about their homes. My father and I went over to one of his rentals to do some routine maintenance. The outside of the house hasn't been painted in over 10 years and it desperately needed it. A few weeks ago, we went over there to replace the steel posts supporting the carport roof and paint the cement slab under it. At the time we noticed just how trashed the yard was. We told the people at that time that the regular upkeep of the outside was their responsibility per their lease (trash picked up, lawn mowed, that sort of thing.) So, we get there today. The yard was worse. There was also a ginormous glob of grease from the BBQ grill all over the freshly painted carport slab. We should have been able to prep the house and get the trim painted today, then get the rest of it done before lunch tomorrow. We barely got the trim on the front of the house done today.

I just don't understand it. When I live someplace, that home is an extension of me. I'd be horrified to let somebody see my home, rented or owned, in that state of trash-heap. And it's not just these people. I've noticed it with others of my father's tenants and my neighbors when I was living in apartments. *sigh*

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

It makes me sad to see so many homes in our town that were once beautiful Victorian era homes, I'm sure, until they were converted to rentable duplexes/apartments and now look run down with peeling paint.

I love when they're actually bought and lived in by the buyers as they do tend to take more pride in their homes.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

There's pride in ownership. Less in rentership, I guess. We have had several different renters live in the house next door to us. All of them have been horrible and didn't take care of the house at all, until the current renters. They are awesome. They shamed me into doing more with my front yard!

Our house could be cleaner too but half of it is just that some days I don't have the energy to clean the same room 3 times. Sad thing is that it's not the baby making the messes, it's his older brothers who know better.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

But you admit, mmswm, that the house already looked not very nice because the owner wasn't keeping it up so why should a renter, who has no investment in the property at all, care?

That said, they should pick up trash! That's just nasty.

I didn't say the owner hadn't been keeping it up or that the outside didn't look nice. I said "routine maintenance" and that the outside hadn't been painted in over 10 years. July of 2001, to be exact. The whole reason why we were there was to rectify that. My father's own house hasn't been painted since 1993 and the paint job still looks fine, so I can't understand how you made that leap.

Other than an empty flower bed, the rest of the house and yard was in pristine condition when the current tenants moved in.

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

I commute by bus. Every evening at the bus stop nearest my office there's a whole group of us waiting to take the same bus. And every evening, this one guy rushes the bus as soon as it arrives, gets on, then slowly digs in his bag for his wallet, feels around in his pocket and eventually comes up with 2 crumpled $1 bills, which he then has to straighten out and slowly feed into the machine. Meanwhile the rest of us are standing there with our bus passes or money in hand. It's particularly obnoxious when it's pouring rain and cold and we're all out there an extra minute while this guy messes around.

But you admit, mmswm, that the house already looked not very nice because the owner wasn't keeping it up so why should a renter, who has no investment in the property at all, care?

That said, they should pick up trash! That's just nasty.

I didn't say the owner hadn't been keeping it up or that the outside didn't look nice. I said "routine maintenance" and that the outside hadn't been painted in over 10 years. July of 2001, to be exact. The whole reason why we were there was to rectify that. My father's own house hasn't been painted since 1993 and the paint job still looks fine, so I can't understand how you made that leap.

Other than an empty flower bed, the rest of the house and yard was in pristine condition when the current tenants moved in.

I suspect truly routine maintenance would be done routinely enough that it wouldn't become desperately needed, which is what led me to the same impression as Betelnut.

"The outside of the house hasn't been painted in over 10 years and it desperately needed it."

If I were to read this line in a book (for instance) I would certainly gain the impression that the house was run-down and uncared for. I suspect this wording may well have contributed to other posters negative impressions.

"The outside of the house hasn't been painted in over 10 years and it desperately needed it."

If I were to read this line in a book (for instance) I would certainly gain the impression that the house was run-down and uncared for. I suspect this wording may well have contributed to other posters negative impressions.

My apologies for the wording then. My version of "desperately needed" doesn't translate to "run down". To me there's a vast conditional difference between those two things.

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

There's pride in ownership. Less in rentership, I guess. We have had several different renters live in the house next door to us. All of them have been horrible and didn't take care of the house at all, until the current renters. They are awesome. They shamed me into doing more with my front yard!

Can we not turn this into a snark-on-renters thread please?

(For the record, I also thought it sounded like the owners weren't keeping up their end either.)

There's pride in ownership. Less in rentership, I guess. We have had several different renters live in the house next door to us. All of them have been horrible and didn't take care of the house at all, until the current renters. They are awesome. They shamed me into doing more with my front yard!

Can we not turn this into a snark-on-renters thread please?

(For the record, I also thought it sounded like the owners weren't keeping up their end either.)

Who's snarking on renters? The OP asked a question, and I answered it based on my personal experience.